To provide data transmission rates demanded by modern technologies, many communications systems now incorporate fiber optic communications lines. Fiber optic lines can transport vast quantities of information. However, the optical signals from fiber lines must be converted to electrical signals for use by standard computing devices. Thus, networks include optical interface cards that contain one or more fiber interfaces. These cards also contain “framers” to convert between electrical network traffic and streaming optical data. Given a failure of one or more of a optical interfaces on a card, the card must be replaced. This may result in disruptions in communications provided by the interface card.